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London Buses route 24
London Buses route 24 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Pimlico and Hampstead Heath, it is operated by Abellio London. History Route 24 dates back to 1910, when it ran between Hampstead Heath and Victoria Station. In August 1912 was extended to Pimlico and has continued in that form until the present day, making this the oldest unchanged bus route in London. Thirty-three Daimler double-decker buses with 34 seats were allocated to route 24, now running between Pimlico and Hampstead, with the fleet name "British" painted in green livery. These buses were running from Camden Town (AQ) garage until they were replaced by AEC NS-Type buses in 1927. Thirty-three NS-type buses were used on route 24 until 1934. Originally, the route was operated by the London General Omnibus Company, and later the British Automobile Traction Co until September 1933 when the London Passenger Transport Board, later London Transport Executive, was formed and ran under the name "London Transport". During its life with London Transport, route 24 was operated mainly from Chalk Farm (CF) garage in Harmood Street. It was also run at times from Victoria (Gillingham Street) (GM) garage. On 7 November 1965, the first 30 Leyland Atlanteans were introduced. It was the first route to use front-entrance double-deckers in London. Routes 67 and 271 also trialled front-entrance buses. On 12 June 1966, the Atlanteans moved to Tottenham garage (AR) and were replaced by AEC Routemasters. The route was crew operated until 25 October 1986, apart from two short periods in 1965/1966 and 1975. The route was the first central London route to be awarded under the tendering process to a private company, Grey-Green on 5 November 1988, using Alexander bodied Volvo Citybuses painted in its own grey, green and orange livery from its Stamford Hill garage (SF). Grey-Green were owned by Cowie Group, and became part of Arriva London following the company's acquisition of two other London operators. In November 2002, the route passed to Metroline operating from their Holloway garage (HT) with brand new Plaxton President bodied Volvo B7TLs were introduced. In 2006, brand new Alexander Dennis Enviro 400s were introduced. On 10 November 2007, it passed to London General operating from their Stockwell garage (SW) with brand new Alexander Dennis Enviro 400s introduced. In 2009, brand new Alexander Dennis Enviro400Hs and a Wright Pulsar Gemini HEV were introduced. A night element to the route was introduced on 27 November 1999, in the form of route N24, to replace part of the withdrawn route N2 between Hampstead Heath and Pimlico. The N prefix was dropped during April 2004, thus making it a 24-hour route. On 10 November 2012, it returned to Metroline operating from their Holloway garage (HT) with brand new Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 bodied Volvo B5LHs and Volvo B9TLs introduced. On 22 June 2013, the Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 bodied Volvo B5LHs and Volvo B9TLs were replaced by brand New Routemasters. On 9 November 2019, the route passed to Abellio London operating from their Battersea (QB) garage using existing New Routemasters. Current Route Route 24 operates via these primary locations: *Hampstead Heath for Hampstead Heath Station *Chalk Farm *Camden Town Station *Mornington Crescent Station *Warren Street Station *Euston Square Station *Tottenham Court Road Station *Leicester Square Station *Trafalgar Square for Charing Cross Station *Westminster Station *Victoria Station *St George's Square for Pimlico Station *Pimlico Grosvenor Road External links *London Bus Routes Gallery *Full Timetable (PDF) 024, London Buses routes